Help with SQ De-Esser

[Josh Wyatt]

Hey there!

Using the Allen and Heath De-Esser fx plugin for the first time.

After trying initially on a vocal, it seemed to only produce feedback.

Currently the De Esser is on FX rack 4, with vocals fader up to 0db, and on FoH I slowly raise FX4 return. Is this right?

What’s the best practice when using this plug in? Should I be soloing the effect to find the perfect frequency? Should I engage the HPF on the side chain?

Thanks in advance!

Josh

[anaesthetised]

Hi Josh – you’re going to want to set this up as an insert on your vocal channel (or group), refer to the bottom of page 46 of the reference guide for instructions.

https://www.allen-heath.com/media/SQ_ReferenceGuide_V1_4_0.pdf#page46

[Josh Wyatt]

Awesome, thank you!

So I’ve updated the De Esser to be an insert, rather than mix->return.

I’ve set the insert to be on a group which contains the vocal mics and the teacher mic. Is this the best way to proceed?

Coming back to the unit itself, I see three settings: frequency, reduction, and response.

Should I PAFL for example, the teachers mic, start at MIN reduction and SLOW response, and dial in the frequency until the sibilance reduces? From there boost them reduction amount, and increase the response as needed?

Thanks again! Sometimes these processes can do my head in! Haha

Josh

[anaesthetised]

You’re most welcome. Try not to worry about it, these processes will become second nature with a little practise and understanding..!

Make sure you’ve set the dry signal to -inf dB and the wet signal to 0 dB at the bottom right of the FX unit page. You only want to hear the processed signal and not the unprocessed signal; with mix->return you were combining the two, which is why you were experiencing feedback.

If I were you I’d start with one unit inserted on the group (saving you some FX slots) and see how you get on. If you still end up with extra uncontrolled sibilance, you can look to inserting another unit directly on the offending channel.

I’ve purchased the de-esser but I haven’t really had a need to use it yet, so I have no direct experience to share. But, like the other FX, I would probably start out by trying out the factory presets in the library and adjusting the controls from there while listening to the results. Your idea should work as well — the only thing I would do differently is start with higher reduction and response values in order to clearly hear it working while sweeping the frequency.

Remember that if you PAFL an input channel, you will be grabbing the signal long before it hits the group with the FX insert. The best you will be able to do to ‘solo’ the de-esser in this application will be to PAFL the group, which should give the 100% wet signal from the de-esser if configured as mentioned. Note that if your “Input to PAFL Source” has been set to “Post Preamp” then you will need to change this to any other option in order to pick up the signal after the insert return (see page 71 of the reference guide).

Have a bit of a play around anyway and come back on afterwards to describe how it went and whether you have any further questions!

[Søren Steinmetz]

And remember to un assign the channels from LR mix, when you want them to go via the Group with the De-esser.

[anaesthetised]

Thanks Søren – I knew I was forgetting something!!

[Josh Wyatt]

Thank you so much anaesthetised and Søren!

That makes a lot of sense – and what I couldn’t find from digging around the YouTube tutorials!

Will be running this in the morning, and I’ll report back on the success 🙂

[Josh Wyatt]

Hey team!

Worked like a charm this morning, thank you so much! The insert on the channel was perfect.

Next I’ll try adding the De-Esser to a group – I was happy with baby steps today!

Thanks again

Josh

[anaesthetised]

Hi Josh,

You’re very welcome and I am happy I could be of help! It’s great to hear the service went well this morning and it can only get better from here.

I think you’re right to take it step by step so as not to over-complicate things. Feel free to reach out again if anything else comes up.

Take care!

[Author]

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